Yard waste
Leaf Season in Apex: Your Week, Your Two Piles
Through early February, Apex yard waste has an assigned week instead of an assigned day. Find your weeks, sort your piles and see how to stay clear of an excess fee.
Example photo, not Apex. Pixabay / StockSnap.
Apex's Peak Leaf Season began October 19. Through the first week of February, no home or neighborhood has an assigned yard waste day. Each household has an assigned week, and Public Works crews move through neighborhoods according to how much material is actually out. Assigned days return February 8, 2027, still on an every-other-week schedule.
The Town says the every-other-week schedule is meant to reduce missed collections and allow more time for vehicle maintenance, which puts more trucks on the road.
Step one
Find your weeks
Zone A is west of I-540. Zone B is east of I-540, plus Sunset Hills. If you are unsure, the Town's address lookup will tell you.
Material should be at the curb by 6 a.m. Monday of your week; collection can happen any day that week. No zone is scheduled for the weeks of December 21 and 28. Weather and holidays can change timing, so sign up for alerts in ApexCollects.
From the meeting
"Have it out, have it out, have it out"
Public Works gave Council the simplest advice for the season at the September 15 work session: use every collection you get while the leaves are dropping.
Step two
Which pile does it go in?
Two kinds of trucks do this work. Vacuum trucks take the loose material; chipper and grapple trucks take the wood. A stick in a leaf pile can damage a vacuum truck, so a mixed pile will not be collected.
Step three
Stay clear of the excess fee
The ordinance limit is two cubic yards per cycle, and more than that can bring a fee. The Town's page adds that during seasonal loose-leaf collection, leaf volume can exceed that amount, and its FAQ recognizes that some mature lots generate a lot of leaves. The fee is aimed at saving it all up: residents who use their biweekly collections are unlikely to pay it; those who wait and put everything out at once could.
Need it gone sooner? Residents can request a fee-based, off-cycle collection through the Town, up to 10 cubic yards per visit, billed on the next utility bill.
Step four
Where the pile goes
On an off week, keep yard waste on your own property and out of the right-of-way. The ordinance applies these placement rules "where practicable." If your curb space is tight, the Town asks you to contact Solid Waste Manager Brandon Roberson (brandon.roberson@apexnc.org) to set up a site visit.
Also asked
What about grass and missed pickups?
Grass. Grass clippings are still accepted. On September 22, on a motion by Mayor Pro Tem Terry Mahaffey, Council continued the proposal to end grass collection to its November 10 meeting and asked staff for a consolidated report on the financial impact and cost recovery.
Missed pickup. Heavy rain, ice, holidays and equipment failures can all affect timing. If your week ends without a pickup, use the Town's service request form or call Ask Apex at (919) 249-3311.
Christmas trees. Collected throughout January. Remove all lights and decorations and place the tree at the curb, not in the road.
Discussion
Comments